A great many systems have been devised over the years for dispensing paper toweling from rolls thereof. Many of these systems employ rotatable feed rollers which engage the toweling and direct same to a position exterior of a cabinet or housing for delivery to the consumer. A wide variety of mechanisms have been devised to cause and control rotation of the feed roller as well as severance of the individual towel sheets from the toweling unwound from the roll.
With respect to feed roller actuation and rotation, the use of one-way clutch mechanisms is not uncommon, such mechanisms being utilized to ensure rotation of feed rollers in only one direction of rotation upon actuation of the dispenser mechanism by the consumer. The purpose of such mechanism is, of course, to ensure that the feed roller will only operate to feed the toweling out of the housing and not back toward the supply roll. One-way clutches, while effective for their intended purpose, can add considerably to the cost of paper towel dispensers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,442 discloses an approach aimed at elimination of a conventional one-way clutch in the form of a floating or displaceable gear which is operable to disengage the actuator structure from the feed roller structure of a paper towel dispenser after a consumer has caused delivery of a towel to dispensing position. Such an approach, while not as expensive or complicated as conventional one-way clutches, is still more complex than the arrangement disclosed and claimed herein.
Other representative patents in the field are U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,412, issued Jul. 11, 1988 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,192, issued Mar. 15, 1994.